New Delhi: The Embassy of Nepal here has launched a campaign aimed at turning Indian content creators into tourism ambassadors, offering a select group of influencers an all-expenses-paid familiarisation trip across the Himalayan nation.
The initiative, announced by the embassy Wednesday, seeks to attract more Indian visitors by showcasing Nepal’s mountains, temples, cultural heritage and spiritual destinations through digital storytelling.
Acting ambassador of Nepal to India, Surendra Thapa, told ThePrint over the phone that the initiative was the first of its kind which intends to highlight the deep cultural and spiritual ties shared by India and Nepal.
“Nepal is very close to the heart of Indian friends,” he said, adding that the country hopes to welcome more Indian visitors through the influence of content creators.
Responding to questions about why the campaign specifically targets influencers and podcasters despite Nepal already being a popular destination for Indians, Thapa said content creators are increasingly playing role in shaping travel decisions.
“With large online followings and strong storytelling abilities, influencers can present Nepal’s tourism experiences in a more relatable and engaging way, helping showcase the country’s culture, landscapes and hospitality to wider audiences,” he added.
“The familiarisation trip aims to promote Nepal as a close, accessible and welcoming destination for Indian travellers, showcase Nepal’s mountains, lakes, heritage sites, temples, stupas, festivals, cuisine and local culture, highlight Nepal’s spiritual destinations, and generate authentic digital content to promote Nepal’s tourism in the Indian market,” read the statement issued by the embassy.
It added that the plan is to select five Indian influencers, vloggers or podcasters to travel through Nepal and create content highlighting the country’s tourism offerings, including pilgrimage sites, adventure travel, wellness retreats, and local cuisine.
“The visit is expected to generate engaging digital content and encourage Indian travellers to visit Nepal for leisure, pilgrimage, culture, adventure, wellness and family travel,” the embassy said.
The content creators will be expected to produce travel vlogs, reels, podcasts, short videos and social media posts documenting their experiences. Participants will also be required to share practical travel information and publish at least one testimonial encouraging Indian tourists to visit Nepal.
The embassy said applicants would be evaluated based on audience engagement, creativity, storytelling ability, and the quality of previous work. Fluency in English, Hindi or regional Indian languages may provide an advantage.
Interested candidates must submit their social media statistics, previous travel-related work samples and a proposal outlining how they would promote Nepal to Indian audiences.
Applications are open until 30 May, with travel dates and itineraries to be announced later.
Tourism remains a pillar of Nepal’s economy, contributing roughly 6.6 to 6.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The sector supports more than 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs, making it one of Nepal’s largest sources of employment and foreign exchange earnings.
People in Nepal wholeheartedly endorse the move. “This is another good attempt to promote Nepal in India by organising familiarisation trips. We need such kinds of public tourism and cultural diplomacy in India and the region so that it will contribute to people ties, tourism promotion and many [sic] more,” Anil Giri, Kathmandu Post’s foreign correspondent wrote on X.
(Edited by Archishman Ganguly)
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